An agricultural harvester known as a “combine” is historically termed such because it combines multiple harvesting functions with a single harvesting unit, such as picking, threshing, separating, and cleaning. A combine includes a header which removes the crop from a field, and a feeder housing which transports the crop matter into a threshing rotor. The threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may be in the form of adjustable concaves, and performs a threshing operation on the crop to remove the grain. The threshing rotor is provided with rasp bars that interact with the crop matter in order to further separate the grain from the crop matter, and to provide positive crop movement. Once the grain is threshed, the grain is cleaned using a cleaning system. The cleaning system includes a cleaning fan which blows air through oscillating sieves to discharge chaff and other debris toward the rear of the combine. Non-grain crop material, such as straw, from the threshing section proceeds through a straw chopper and out the rear of the combine. Clean grain is transported to a grain tank onboard the combine.
A typical header generally includes a frame, a pair of end dividers at the lateral ends of the frame, a cutter to remove crop material from the field, and a conveyor to transport the cut crop material to the feeder housing for further downstream processing in the combine. These features of a typical header are generally specifically optimized to harvest a particular kind of crop material. For instance, the header may be in the form of a draper header which has a cutter bar, a draper belt, and a rotating reel with tines or the like in order to harvest a bushy or fluffy crop material, such as soy beans or canola.
Crop dividers on a header, such as lateral end dividers, can cause a decrease in yield because the crop dividers may ineffectively direct crop material into the header. For example, some end dividers may push or lay crop material over as it divides a row of crop material, and thereby, on a subsequent pass it may be difficult to harvest the down crop material which the end dividers have pushed or laid over. Additionally, for example, the shape of some dividers may cause an operator to stop the harvesting process and physically remove the lodged crop material.
Some headers may further include a down crop attachment located on one or more crop dividers in order to move bent, fallen, or lodged crop material from the front of the header towards the conveyor. A down crop attachment may include a rotating chain or belt located at the center of the crop divider. Incorporating a down crop attachment can decrease economic loss, since the bent, fallen, and/or lodged crop material would not otherwise be gathered into the header. Additionally, the down crop attachment will increase the harvesting efficiency as the operator does not need to stop the harvesting process to clean lodged crop material from the header as often. However, down crop attachments may be complex and cumbersome to maintain. Additionally, some down crop attachments can undesirably increase the overall weight of the header.
What is needed in the art is a cost effective and efficient crop gathering attachment for dividing and harvesting a crop material.